Physicians May Value Blood Gasses More Than They Should

Although physicians on prehospital mobile units considered blood gases very valuable, test results didn't objectively improve diagnostic accuracy.

Randomized studies assessing diagnostic test efficacy are performed less frequently than assessments of interventions, and they rarely demonstrate patient benefit (J Clin Epidemiol 2017; 84:61).

To determine the effects of prehospital arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis on diagnostic accuracy and whether ABG analysis informed subsequent therapeutic interventions, investigators randomized critically ill patients with Glasgow Coma Scores <13 being treated on an anesthesiologist-staffed mobile care unit to standard care with or without ABG analysis. “Diagnostic accuracy” was defined as the proportion of patients assigned a specific ICD-10 code by the prehospital physician (expected percentage, 96.0%; aim, increase to 96.4%).

In all, 222 patients h…

Reviewing Author

Benton R. Hunter, MD

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Chair, Evidence Based Healthcare Interest Group)

Benton R. Hunter, MD

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Chair, Evidence Based Healthcare Interest Group)

Physicians May Value Blood Gasses More Than They Should

Topics

Reviewing Author